By downloading this free guide, you agree to receive regular updates on the latest cool apps, product reviews, and giveaways from MakeUseOf.

This 53 page guide provides an objective, detailed, but easily understood walk through of PC security.The terms "PC security" or "computer security" are vague in the extreme. They tell you very little, like most general terms. This is because PC security is an incredibly diverse field. On the one hand you have professional and academic researchers who carefully try to find and fix security issues across a broad range of devices. On the other hand, there is also a community of inventive computer nerds who are technically amateurs (in the literal sense of the word – they're unpaid and unsupported by any recognized institution or company) but are highly skilled and capable of providing useful input of their own.

PC security is linked to computer security as a whole, including issues like network security and Internet security. The vast majority of the threats that may attack your computer are able to survive only because of the Internet and, in some cases, the survival of a security threat is directly linked to a security flaw in some high-end piece of server hardware. However, the average PC user has no control over this.

By the end of this guide you will know exactly what PC security means and, more importantly, what you need to do to keep your PC secure.